'Power Posing' Can Also Make You More Dishonest

In a widely popular
TED talk, Harvard Business School professor Amy Cuddy
explained that people who take expansive, stretched-out poses
feel more confident and powerful, especially compared to those
with hunched, constricted postures.

But what about people who naturally spend their time in expansive
postures or environments? It turns out that they
too, feel more powerful.

In a
recent paper titled "The Ergonomics of Dishonesty" published
by Cuddy, MIT's Andy Yap, Columbia's Abbie Wazlawek,
Northwestern's Brian Lucas, and Berkeley's Dana Carney
found that people who take expansive postures, either on purpose
or as a part of their environment, were more likely to
steal
money,cheat on a test, and
commit traffic violations in a driving simulation.

Those forced to reach for materials in an expansive desk during a
task cheated more than those kept more constrained by keeping all
of their materials at arm's reach on a smaller pad.

Those in the larger seat were more likely to drive recklessly,
and exhibit more "hit and run behavior."

To look at the problem outside the lab, the researchers went
literally to the streets. They took a look at the expansiveness
of seats in double parked cars in New York. Those with more space
were more likely to double park, even when the "status" and
length of the cars were controlled for.

This doesn't mean you should instantly distrust the guy with the
battleship of a desk who drives a Hummer. Increased feelings of
power have positive effects in some cases, depending on context.

Still, it's another piece of research to add to the increasingly
scientific design of workplaces and offices.
Zappos deliberately restricted the amount of space in its new
Las Vegas offices to increase employee interaction. They might be
onto something.